THE DIFFUSION AND MOSAICS OF LANGUAGES

Tracing Linguistic Diversification

Diffusion of languages– Sound shifts– William Jones and ancient Sanskrit– Jacob Grimm and consonants

From Jones and Grimm to the (Proto) Indo-European language– This concept had major implications creating

major research tasks

The Language Tree

Divergence– August Schleicher– Languages to dialects– Dialects isolated

becoming discrete languages

– Language tree model

The Language Tree

Convergence– Long-isolated languages making contact– Human mobility complicates language study– Languages and relocation diffusion

Replacement– Replacement or modification of language by stronger

invaders of a less advanced people goes on today– No reason to believe it has not happened ever since

humans began to use language

Theories of Language Diffusion

Roots– Proto-language had words for landscape features,

certain vegetation Indicators of where a language may have developed

Conquest theory– Somewhere north of the Black Sea in the vast

steppes of Ukraine and Russia– > 5000 years ago, used horses, developed the

wheel, and traded

Theories of Language Diffusion

Agriculture theory– Source area in Anatolia, Turkey

Few words for plains but many for high-relief landforms

Non-plains-dwelling animals and trees Mesopotamian Cultural Hearth

– Support for the theory Distance decay

Drawbacks of the theory– Not much farming in Anatolia

Agricultural Theory

The Search For The Superfamily

Renfrew’s agricultural hearths model Russian scholars long interested

– Nostratic

The Search For The Superfamily

Nostratic – Vocabulary

No names for domestic plants or animals

– Hunter-gatherers, ~ 14,000 years ago– Possible ancestral language for many other languages– Links widely separated languages– Perhaps a direct successor of a proto-world language

Diffusion to the Pacific

When populated by people? Diffusion into the Pacific north of Indonesia and

New Guinea AustronesianMalay-Polynesian Speed of diffusion amazing considering the

fragmented Pacific realm Most of Polynesia settled within several

centuries

Diffusion to The Americas

Diffusion in the Americas– Dominated by Indo-European languages– Pre-Columbian populations quite low– If Bering land-bridge hypothesis, then most intricately

divided branch of language tree The Greenberg hypothesis

– 3 families of indigenous American languages– Implies a period longer than the (generally) accepted

12,000-to-13,000-year-ago immigration into the Americas

Influences onIndividual Languages

Individual tongues– Contact important for non-written languages– Three critical components have influenced the

world's linguistic mosaic: Literacy Technology Political organization

Printing press– Germany 1588– Easier to publish texts

Rise of national states– Integrated state territory– Common linguistic influences via interaction

Influences on Individual Languages

MODERN LANGUAGE MOSAICS

Changing Cultural Composition in the United States

Hispanics population on the rise An “official” second language?

– Even divides Hispanic communities– Hispanic policy organization report, 1990

Early European immigrants faced language barrier…

Language and Culture

Current debates– Language vs. cultural preservation– English = international communication standard– Some countries have made English (or another

language) their official language Neocolonialism to some Emotional attachment important What is the US’s official language?

Language and Trade

The Esperanto experiment Lingua franca

– Linguistic convergence of Frankish, Italian, Greek, Spanish, and Arabic

– Today’s usage of “lingua franca” Swahili has become the lingua franca of East Africa In West Africa Hausa is a regional tongue

Language and Trade

Creolization– “Pidgin”– Sometimes a mother tongue– Difficult distinguishing between them & dialects

Multilingualism

Few true monolingual states left – Japan, Uruguay, Venezuela, Iceland, Portugal,

Poland, and Lesotho

Multilingual states– Linguistic fragmentation can reflect cultural

pluralism

Multilingualism

Regional expression– Examples:

Switzerland Russia Andean Cultures

Multilingualism

Canada– French & English

speaking areas– Still divided

Multilingualism

Belgium Dutch-speaking and

French-speaking regions Brussels officially

bilingual, but majority speak French

Reflects 19th century efforts to build an integrated state

Linguistic partition in 1920s

For Flemish identity Language regions tend to

foster regionalism

Multilingualism

Nigeria A colonial creation Three major regional

languages– 230 established tongues

English as “official” language

– Repercussions?

Official languages

Serve different purposes– Enhance internal communication and interaction– Colonial influence– Official language can cause problems

Hindi example

– US official language? None!

Toponymy

The systematic study of place names– Reveal a lot about a culture

Examples?– Why, AZ; Nothing, AZ; Ajo, AZ; Marana, AZ– Peru, ME; Bolivia, SC

Two part names– Many place names consist of two parts

A specific or given part Generic or classifying part E.g., Pennsylvania (Penn’s Forest)

Toponymy

Taxonomy of Toponymy– Historian George Stewart classified place names into ten

categories Descriptive Associative Incident Possessive Commendatory Commemorative

– LA (El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula)

Folk-etymology Manufactured Mistake So-called Shift names

Toponymy

Changing place names– Elicit strong passions

E.g., post-colonial African countries; Burma to Myanmar; Siam to Thailand

– Changing city or town names often more difficult than changing in territory names

– Post-Soviet Union Thousands of places were renamed Many bitter arguments

– South Africa today...

Language and The Global Cultural Mosaic

African Storyteller; Gaelic Bard; Troubadour– Tales contain history and psyche of the people

Language can reveal how people view reality Language and religion are two cornerstones of

culture

Discussion Question, set #1

Language divergence involves the differentiation of languages over time and space.

– Where in North America is language divergence in progress today?

– What geographic factors contribute to this process here (in N.A.) and elsewhere?

Discussion Question, set #2

Over the more than two centuries of its existence, the US has been a largely English-speaking country. For African-Americans, European-Americans, and Asian-Americans, English became the first (often the only) language. Today, Spanish is challenging this English monopoly.

– What geographic factors play major roles in this process? How? Why?